Lawmakers Begin Cap-and-Trade Discussions
The state joint legislative committee on carbon pricing heard from an expert who said a well-crafted carbon-pricing plan could be good for the state’s environment and economy.
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PARIS ACHEN/CAPITAL BUREAU – Left to right, State Sen. Elizabeth Steiner-Hayward, D-Beaverton, Sen. Alan Olsen, R-Canby, Sen. Fred Girod, R-Stayton, and Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, question experts during the first meeting of the Joint Committee on Carbon Pricing at the Oregon Capitol Tuesday, May 22, 2018.
SALEM – A joint legislative committee charged with developing policy for a statewide “cap and trade” program launched its work Tuesday during the state Legislature’s quarterly meetings.
House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, and Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, appointed the 14-member Joint Committee on Carbon Pricing after lawmakers declined to act on the Clean Energy Jobs Bill earlier this year to create a cap and trade program modeled after California’s. The committee launched its task by hearing and questioning experts on state and national environmental policies.
“We are here to develop a program that can help us reduce our greenhouse gases and to work on also growing economic opportunity across the state, and I’m really looking forward to working with each and every one of you to do that,” said Kotek, the committee’s co-chairperson.
